Holland High weekend fundraiser for deaf students' trip to D.C.

Like other seniors at Holland High School, James Tinder hasn’t decided yet on a college.

STEPHEN KLOOSTERMAN

Like other seniors at Holland High School, James Tinder hasn’t decided yet on a college.

But it’s likely to be one of two places — Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., or Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. The institutions are two on a very short list of colleges that have programs for the deaf.

That’s why Tinder and his nine classmates at Holland Public Schools are holding a gas pumping fundraiser this weekend, hoping to raise money for a trip to the Capitol. Deaf students in grades 8-12 visit Rochester and Gallaudet every four years.

“It’s kind of to give them hope, that there are deaf colleges out there,” said Holland High School teacher Andrea Wiersma. “We usually do it every few years, so that new kids come up and new kids can experience it.”

Tinder isn’t sure which college he will choose, he said, speaking through a sign-language interpreter. He’s interested in pursuing a criminal justice degree. He’s already accepted into the Rochester Institute of Technology but is also interested in playing college football.

“I would have to go to Gallaudet, because they’re the only one of the two that has a football program,” he said. Tinder plays football and wrestles for Holland High School.

Wiersma said her class still has to raise $3,000 for the trip, during which students will visit historical sites in the Capitol, in addition to visiting Gallaudet.

“Deaf people, it’s very easy for them to understand it if they can see the stuff they learned in their history class,” she said.

For the fundraiser, students will pump gas for donations and tips on Friday, Jan. 30, and Saturday, Jan. 31. The students will be at Quality Gas Stations on Eighth Street, River Avenue and Washington Avenue from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

“We want to have more experiences and see different colleges and have more opportunities for our future,” Tinder said.